WEEK 1: Motion Studies DESN1136

Welcome to Motion Studies!
Please remember to sign in at every class.

Have a look at the outline for the course and familiarize yourself with the 

Concept art from Machinarium

academic policies.
Motion Studies continues your animation study by focusing first on the production methods used to create animated sequences. From concepts and character designs to story boards and finally animation you'll try out many of the roles in a professional animation pipeline.

For the first 7 weeks of this course we will focus exclusively on DRAWING so always bring sketchpads and pencils. Later on we'll be shooting some video reference to guide the animation process.

There are 9 Assignments for this course due weekly or bi-weekly. 

Machinarium final artwork

Assignment 1:

DESN1136 Assignment 1 Rubric

Concept Design

% of final grade: 20%

Assigned: Tuesday, Sept 3rd

Due: Tuesday, September 24th IN CLASS

Character designs from Machinarium

*Late assignments are worth 0

Please work in PSD in high resolution but SUBMIT  only JPGs following the image formatting guidelines from this post.

Filenames:

1136_a1_donovant_char_001.jpg

1136_a1_donovant_env_001.jpg

1136_a1_donovant_stry_001.jpg

1136_a1_donovant_stbd_001.jpg

Description:

Create a concept pack for a virtual independent game complete with design sketches for the character and environment, a story outline, and one story boarded sequence. The sequence should be planned around the walk, run, and jump cycles to be animated in the second half of the course. It should show how the character will interact with the environment. Drawings need not be clean but they should be clear, dynamic, and detailed.

Keep your ideas simple. The graphic style should be very easy to sketch so all your ideas can be presented within the allotted time. Consider that you will be one modeling and rigging the character when you design it. Click here for a detailed description of this assignment

WEEK 10: Motion Studies - Game Cycles -- Walks, wrap-up, transitioning to runs

The famous 'human/dog' comparison scene from 101 Dalmations

We'll wrap up the final stages of the walk, adding subtle details that can make your walk look unique and polished.  There are lots of great examples of hand-drawn cartoon walks from on "Walk Cycle Depot" and "Pencil Test Depot" for us to have a look at.  Good luck with your deadline this weekend!

Next we'll get ready to transition into run cycles which start next week. Remember all of your cycles must link together as one sequence, including transitions (anticipations and follow throughs) to blend them seamlessly.



Please welcome my replacement, Mike Swiegot who starts next week.

WEEK 9: Motion Studies - Game Cycles -- #1 Treadmill Walks!

You're going to get lots of practice setting up game cycles: walks, runs, jumps, and finally, blending them seamlessly together.

First cycle on the agenda: Walks. It's time for a whole new level of picky: treadmills.  You are about to become very involved with your Graph Editor. If that scares you, it's time to learn to love this indispensable tool.

When animating complex motions like walks it's a very good idea to study live action reference, or even create your own.

Walk Reference:
Treadmill Walk: Dude
"Endless Reference"'s You Tube channel (also see sidebar link -->)
Monster's Inc
Iron Giant

Getting good at cycles requires patience and practice. You should try a few different ones so you get faster at setting them up. It's always better work from reference. Shooting your own reference can be invaluable so you understand the mechanics.

Your final cycles are all due near the end of term but we'll have lots of in-class time to work on them.

We're using a new rig for this term, a more complex, TV-quality rig called "Eleven" made for the Eleven Second Club. Click to download the latest v1.2.
http://elevenrig.blogspot.ca/

Remember to open Maya, REFERENCE in your rig file, and then save your new scene.

Assignment 4: Animation Cycles - walk, run, jump sequence
Assigned: November 2nd
Due: December 14th in class
% of Final Grade: 40%
The sequence must contain loopable cycles blended together into one scene. Include a few loops of each cycle and add any necessary blending between each cycle. Animation should show all 12 principles of animation, especially strong posing, weight, and overlapping action. The character should have believable weight, a clear personality, and move with fluidity and clarity. The cycles should blend together cleanly with all necessary weight shifts, anticipations and reactions added to the final file. Animation work-in-progress will be critiqued in class. The final blended animation sequence will be graded as one project.

Please submit all work to our shared DropBox folder using the following naming conventions and settings:

Filenames:
tdonovan_anim_001.ma
tdonovan_anim_001.mov

File Format: QT
Encoding: H.264
Quality: 100
Image Size: Custom
Width: 560
Height: 316

Click here to download a bookmark-sized "12 Principles Desktop Cheat Sheet"

Good luck!

Intercession Week!!

WEEK 7: Motion Studies - Anatomy of Movement 2: Muscles

Animation speed drill o' the day - new rig! Up on DropBox you should find "Krag" the awkwardly adorable dinosaur. Your mission is to create a little surprise 'take' for Krag. I will explain :o)
-----------------------------------------
Human Anatomy + Photoshop Basics, continued.  Once again we're in lab 520 continuing with part 2 of our Human Anatomy study: the muscular system.

Bring drawing materials, and a stylus.

Description:
Part 2: Muscles
Continuing working on the same file with the action photo as your base layer, and your skeleton in the middle, draw the major muscle groups that move the skeleton as a final overlay. Feature the most visible and important muscle groups for artists and animators. Show perspective in the shading as the muscles wrap around the body, the direction they lie and the deformations caused by the effort of the pose. Use colour variation to differentiate between the bellies of the muscles and the ligaments and tendons that attach them to the bones.

Aim to make your drawing a portfolio piece that shows both your knowledge and your artistic skill. The drawing can be very detailed or you may generalize forms as shown in the study above.

Looking for a good muscular system study reference? -- ok, maybe more 'memorable' than good? Click here!
No, seriously, these are better - Front, Back

WEEK 6: Motion Studies - Anatomy of Movement 1: the Skeleton

Please note that for this week and next week the class has been moved to Room 520 at 3:00 pm  Bring drawing materials, and a stylus.
----------------------------------
 Animation speed drill o' the day: handstand idle
It can be a funny handstand or a serious one. Once the pose looks nice see if you can turn it into an idle cycle.
-----------------------------------------


Human Anatomy 1 + Photoshop Basics
We'll work in the Cintiq labs (TBA) and begin part 1 of our Human Anatomy study: the skeleton.

Motion Studies Assignment 3
Anatomy of Movement:
Part 1: Skeleton
Part 2: Muscles
Assigned: October 12th

Due: November 2nd

% of Final Grade: 20%

Work large (ex 2048px) but save final version at 
1024 px x @ 72 pixels/inch

Filename:
tdonovan_skeleton_001.jpg
tdonovan_muscles_001.jpg

Please hand in by FTP
Description:
Part 1: Skeleton

Using a photo of  an action pose as a base layer, draw the underlying skeleton. Aim to make your drawing a portfolio piece that shows both your knowledge and your artistic skill. The drawing can be very detailed or you may generalize forms as shown in the study above.
This is most easily done digitally, but you can draw on tracing paper and scan it. Find your own photo or use one of these from ESPN's body issue.

Use lots of reference for the skeleton -Visible Body is very helpful but it  costs >$30.

Another great idea -- create a pose-able mini skeleton using a cheap model and sculptor's wax. Available on Amazon.com. I called around and didn't find any in town.
http://illustrationfixation.blogspot.com/2011/05/skeleton-model.html

Another option is to download a 3D model. The good ones are expensive (>$150). I searched Turbosquid for models under $25 and this is what popped up. One or two aren't terrible.
http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=skeleton&max_price=25

More here (these actually look better)
http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/people?cat=1071

Looking for good skeletal system study reference? Click here!

WEEK 5: Motion Studies - Rough to Final Animation "Splining"

So you have created all the major poses and some important breakdowns, roughed in the timing and all is well. What next? Well, the next step, as they say, is a doozy!

It's one thing to see all your poses nice and clearly separated. It's quite daunting to make them all transition fluidly to create a good animated performance.

Today we'll go through a few more techniques to make this process more manageable.

Here are some key pro tips for moving from blocking to final animation:

• break the shot up into distinct beats - work on the main actions separately
• shorten the timeline - don't get overwhelmed
• look at what’s driving the motion - make sure it's nice and clean
• hide the arms and legs if they're distracting
• try using ghosting or creating motion trails if that's helpful for seeing arcs and spacing
• convert the body curves to “clamped” or “spline”
• go through curve by curve, adjusting as necessary 
• focus on one moment at a time
• take a step back and review the whole file occasionally

Adapted in part from the article "The Fear of Moving Past Blocking" by Eric Scheur

Here are some of the most important things to watch out for when finalizing your animation:

• Arcs
• Line of Action
• Offsets
• Overlap and Follow Through
• Energy
• Pace
• Silhouette
• Motion Problems
• Timing
• Staging
• Acting
• Watch your previews many times and write down any problems you should go back and fix later.

Adapted in part from the article "Life After Pose to Pose: Taking your Animation to the Next Level" by Keith Lango

Final polish is a finesse pass where many subtle details can be added. This is not a requirement at this stage but something to look forward to. Some examples of final polish are:

• add squash stretch to the head
• add deformations on the body for squash/stretch and single-frame effects
• add subtle bows bends on arms, legs
• animate nose / cheeks
• overlap brows, blinks
• overlap fingers, toes
• eye-darts

Reminder: your deadline for this assignment is next week before class! Good luck!

WEEK 4: Motion Studies - Animation Blocking to Rough Animation

Don't forget that this week's class now takes place in 2 parts:
(1) Thursday Sept 27th - 12:00pm-1:30pm the CASO "Previsualization for Feature Films" lecture at the Scotiabank Theatre at John and Richmond
http://tarateach.blogspot.ca/2012/09/casos-visionary-lunches-series-presents.html
You should RSVP at: SHIRLYN@CASONT.CA
Make sure you mention you're from GBC to get the $10 rate (lunch included!).
There's a Starbucks on the second floor of John and Richmond if anyone would like to join me for a coffee afterwards. :o)

(2) Friday Sept 28th - 12:00 - 1:30 pm in our regular classroom 516

I look forward to seeing your WIP animation -- last chance for help before final animation is due next week....

I'll go over the process of moving from blocking to rough and then final animation. Animating this way allows you to make the most of your posing and timing and build layers of detail into your scenes from blocking to final polish

Here's a beautiful example of this layered approach by the ridiculously talented Jamaal Bradley

Progression of an Animated Shot: Gothel & Rapunzel Disney's Tangled from Jamaal Bradley on Vimeo.

Don't let me forget to show you how to compress your video files using Adobe Media Encoder!

WEEK 3: Motion Studies - Animation Blocking

Your storyboards and thumbnails will be on display today as we take them into the next phase of production: Blocking Animation. We'll look at some examples of blocking to make it clear how it relates to the final phase of animation.

If we can we'll shoot some live action reference but we have a lot of other things planned...

Many of you may be a little rusty in Maya ;o)  If you need a refresher, I highly recommend the course 12 Principles of Animation in Maya on Digital Tutors.

We'll start the blocking process in 3D. I'll show you how to set up cameras, follow the rules of creating strong posing, and talk about some common methods for timing animation blocking.

A typical progression sequence from Monsters Inc

We'll go over the basics of creating good playblasts or previews - here's a post that describes the how-to's:

Here's a reminder of how to preview animation:
http://tarateach.blogspot.ca/2011/01/previewing-animation-in-maya.html#more

I also want to show you how basic constraints work so you can have props in your scenes.

From blocking to rough posing to final animation you have 3 weeks to complete this next assignment.

ADIR1136 Assignment 2: Animating a simple sequence of between 5-10 seconds 
% of final grade: 25%
Assigned: Friday, Sep 21st
Due: Friday, Oct 12th before class
Description:
Animate a short sequence using storyboards and thumbnails. The sequence should be planned around actions on the list of 100 Animation Exercises. The  character may interact with simple props or a basic environment.  Animation should show all 12 principles of animation, especially strong posing, weight, and overlapping action.

Please submit all work to our shared DropBox folder using the following naming conventions and settings:

Filenames:
tdonovan_anim_001.ma
tdonovan_anim_001.mov

File Format: QT
Encoding: H.264
Quality: 100
Image Size: Custom
Width: 560
Height: 316



Rubric:

Exemplary - Highly polished piece showing  mastery of the principles of animation. Fluid motion, strong posing and timing, and lots of appeal.
Excellent - Well animated piece with strong grasp of the principles of animation. Motion is mostly smooth with very good posing and timing.
Acceptable - Good animation with most of the principles of animation. Motion may have a few areas that need improvement but the overall timing is good and the posing clear.
Not Acceptable - Animation has many problems in timing and posing showing a lack of control of tools or knowledge of the animation principles.

WEEK 2: Motion Studies - Storyboarding and Thumbnail posing

Storyboarding, continued..
We'll look deeper into story boarding techniques this week, expanding on the basic camera shots and their uses to include camera moves and scene transitions.  Through close examination of storyboards from many different project styles we'll talk about ways story artists have communicated not just the main points of the action but also mood and character.

Designing storyboards for nonlinear media like video games must also include the element of branching - what happens when the action could go more than one direction?

We'll have an informal group critique of your WIP so we can tidy up any loose ends before your Oct 2nd deadline.

Part 2 of your 1st assignment consists of "thumbnails of your action". Thumbnails, thumbnailing, thumbnail posing... in animation these terms get tossed around a fair bit. They all refer to drawing quick, small gestures in planning animation.

Thumbnail examples from Animation Mentor

Drawing is the premier means of visual communication and it's absolutely essential in collaborating with other artists.  Drawing is a learned skill that comes more easily to some than others -- but make no mistake, a few hours of dedicated study can make all the difference. Animators have to draw so darned many drawings that they've spent a century developing a list of tricks to streamline the process.

Thumbnail translated to 3D

This week I'll give you some of the most important tricks I've learned to help you get your gestures down quickly to convey maximum information in a minimum of lines.

Click here for more information: 
Animation Mentor article "Animation Tips & Tricks: THUMBNAILS"

WEEK 1: Motion Studies (formerly Animation Direction 1)

Welcome to Motion Studies!

Please have a look at the outline for the course and familiarize yourself with the academic policies. Please sign in at every class - and if you can't make it, you can use this form to let me know.

Classes may need to be rescheduled from time to time - please fill out the survey at the bottom of this post so we can plan the best time for the most people.

We'll be doing a lot of drawing in this course so always bring sketchpads and pencils.  Later on we'll be shooting some video reference to guide the animation process so be ready to act in front of your peers.

story sketch from Limbo

Motion Studies gives you lots of practice at animating short sequences of human movement in 3D in preparation for working with more complex sequences using motion capture data.  

Choosing 2-3 brief actions from the list of 100 Animation Exercises, you're going to create  a short animated sequence using professional techniques like thumbnailing and storyboarding to plan the animation, then in 3D blocking, rough and finally clean animation. 

See if you can invent a backstory for your character to make the acting more believable. 

Storyboard pitch session Fairly Odd Parents

thumbnails from Ratatouille

We'll be exploring some of the key ways animation sequences are planned before ever opening a computer.

Story sketching, story boarding, and thumbnailing are all common methods of planning animation. We'll talk about the differences and see some examples of how they bring animated sequences to life.

ADIR1136 Assignment 1: Planning a simple animated sequence of between 5-10 seconds 
using storyboards and thumbnails

% of final grade: 15%
Assigned: Friday, Sept 7th
Due: Friday, Sept 21st before class

Please submit all work via DropBox (info to follow) SAVE your work uncompressed (PSDs recommended)

SEND me only JPGs

Please keep files under 2000 px wide, and use compression settings that will keep the file size under 2MB

Filenames:  

tdonovan_stbd_001.jpg

tdonovan_thumbs_001.jpg

Description: 

Plan a short animated sequence using storyboards and thumbails. The sequence should be planned around actions on the list of 100 Animation Exercises. The  character may interact with simple props or a basic environment. Drawings need not be clean but they should be clear, dynamic, and detailed.

Keep your ideas simple. The graphic style should be very easy to sketch.

(1) Storyboard sequence: Keep it brief -- 6 panels should be sufficient. Pick any section of the story you like and show the action graphically in clear, greyscale boards. Use text to further describe the action.
(2) Thumbnails: Draw some of the key poses for your actions. Keep the drawings loose and rough, in the style of the examples shown in class. Emphasize elements that help the action read well such as the line of action and the sillhouette.

Rubric:

Exemplary - Highly polished showing a unified style and an inventive premise showing a deep exploration of challenges presented by the original story. Detailed movement study of animation sequence showing all major actions with some personality.
Excellent - Detailed, well-organized presentation describing a clear and consistent design style well-suited to a creative premise. Simple study of most of the planned actions for the animated sequence.
Acceptable - Simple collection of required sketches showing key features and a solid premise.
Not Acceptable - Sparsely detailed and/or incomplete collection with an unclear concept. Contains only a few of the key poses of the animated sequence.

WEEK 6: Animation Direction 1 - Anatomy of Movement 1: the Skeleton

Human Anatomy 1 + Photoshop Basics
We'll park ourselves in lab 520 and begin part 1 of our Human Anatomy study: the skeleton.
Bring drawing materials, and a stylus if you have one.

ADIR1136 Assignment 3
Anatomy of Movement

Part 1: Skeleton
Part 2: Muscles
Assigned: October 14th

Due: October 25th <--NEW!

% of Final Grade: 20%  <--NEW!

Please keep file sizes under 2MB
Work large (2048px) but save final version at screen res.
(Ex: 1024 @ 72 DPI)

Filename:
tdonovan_anatomy_001.jpg

Please hand in by FTP

Description:
Part 1: Skeleton

Using a photo of  an action pose as a base layer, draw the underlying skeleton. Aim to make your drawing a portfolio piece that shows both your knowledge and your artistic skill. The drawing can be very detailed or you may generalize forms as shown in the study above.
This is most easily done digitally, but you can draw on tracing paper and scan it. Find your own photo or use one of these from ESPN's body issue.

Use lots of reference for the skeleton - Visible Body is very helpful but it  costs >$30.

Another great idea -- create a pose-able mini skeleton using a cheap model and sculptor's wax. Available on Amazon.com. I called around and didn't find any in town.
http://illustrationfixation.blogspot.com/2011/05/skeleton-model.html


Another option is to download a 3D model. The good ones are expensive (>$150). I searched Turbosquid for models under $25 and this is what popped up. One or two aren't terrible.
http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=skeleton&max_price=25

More here (these actually look better)
http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/people?cat=1071

Looking for good skeletal system study reference? Click here!

WEEK 5: Animation Direction 1 - Animation Thumbnails -- Drawing Tips & Tricks

Thumbnails, thumbnailing, thumbnail posing... in animation these terms get tossed around a fair bit.

They all refer to drawing quick, small gestures in planning animation. 

Drawing is the premier means of visual communication and it's absolutely essential in collaborating with other artists.  Drawing is a learned skill that comes more easily to some than others -- but make no mistake, a few hours of dedicated study can make all the difference. Animators have to draw so darned many drawings that they've spent a century developing a list of tricks to streamline the process.

Pixar's Victor Navone's run study from The Incredibles

This week I'll give you some of the most important tricks I've learned to help you get your gestures down quickly to convey maximum information in a minimum of lines.

Click here for more information: 
Animation Mentor article "Animation Tips & Tricks: THUMBNAILS"

Check out Victor Navone's beautiful collection of thumbnails here.

WEEK 4: Animation Direction 1

We'll have a look at your WIP storyboards and talk about planning branching game cycles before the due date later in the week.

The next step of the process is planning the animation. We'll discuss many of the tools used to streamline this part of the pipeline: exposure sheets, bar sheets, timing charts, and animation posing. It's important to plan the animation direction so the style is consistent throughout the production. Drawing the character in key poses inspires the animation process. Gathering reference material including shooting video reference can be invaluable. Before animation begins, it should be planned as rough thumbnails as in the Ratatouille sketches in the photo.

Your next assignment is to thumbnail all of the animation for your virtual video game.

ADIR1136 Assignment 2: Animation Thumbnails

% of final grade: 20%
Assigned: Thursday, Sept 29th
Due: Sunday, October 9th <--NEW!!!

Please submit all work via FTP

SAVE your work uncompressed (PSDs recommended)

SEND me only JPGs

Please keep file sizes under 2MB

Filenames:
tdonovan_thumb_001.jpg

Description:
Plan the animation for a sequence in your virtual game. It can be built around the travelling sequences such as the walk, run, and jump cycles to be animated in the second half of the course. It could also focus on another significant part of the game. Drawings need not be clean but they should be clear, dynamic, and detailed.

Rubric:
Exemplary - In-depth planning of all the movement and surrounding actions for animation sequence showing the character's specific personality and style of movement.

Excellent - Detailed movement study of animation sequence showing all major actions with some personality.
Acceptable - Simple study of most of the planned actions for the animated sequence.
Not Acceptable - Sparsely detailed study of a few of the key poses of the animated sequence.

WEEK 3: Animation Direction 1

Storyboarding, continued..
We'll look deeper into story boarding techniques this week, expanding on the basic camera shots and their uses to include camera moves and scene transitions.  Through close examination of storyboards from many different project styles we'll talk about ways story artists have communicated not just the main points of the action but also mood and character.

Designing storyboards for nonlinear media like video games must also include the element of branching - what happens when the action could go more than one direction?

Level design is another topic we'll look into today.  How do you plan the environment to fit your action?

Next week we'll have an informal group critique of your WIP so we can tidy up any loose ends before your Oct 2nd deadline.

WEEK 2: Animation Direction 1

This week we'll have a look at what you've designed so far for characters and a premise for your virtual indie game. We'll discuss what's working and suggest ways to improve on the concept before it gets too detailed.

Moving from story into storyboarding, we'll dive into our next topic:
Composition and staging for story sketching.

Story sketching is a rougher, preliminary part of the storyboarding process where ideas become pictures on their way to the big screen.

Please bring drawing materials to class every week as we'll soon be in a computer-free room.

a story sketch uses composition to give the subject a strong mood

Animation Direction 1: Assignment 1

Here's the full description of the 1st assignment. Please let me know if you have any questions.

ADIR1136 Assignment 1: Concept Design 

% of final grade: 20%
Assigned: Thursday, Sept 8th
Due: Sunday, October 2nd

Please submit all work via FTP

SAVE your work uncompressed (PSDs recommended)

SEND me only JPGs

Please keep file sizes under 2MB

Filenames:
tdonovan_char_001.jpg

tdonovan_env_001.jpg

tdonovan_stry_001.jpg

tdonovan_stbd_001.jpg

Description: 

Create a concept pack for a virtual independent game complete with design sketches for the character and environment, a story outline, and one storyboarded sequence. The sequence should be planned around the walk, run, and jump cycles to be animated in the second half of the course. It should show how the character will interact with the environment. Drawings need not be clean but they should be clear, dynamic, and detailed.

Keep your ideas simple. The graphic style should be very easy to sketch so all your ideas can be presented within the allotted time. Consider that you will be modeling and rigging the character when you design it. 

(1) Character design: your character should be a robot or insect.  Keep the joints simple and mechanical so they require less time in skinning. Draw your character from several different angles and in a few key poses. 

(2) Environment: Design a simple location where your character would live in your virtual game. Show the scale of the character to his environment.

(3) Story: 1 page. This should be a simple premise, followed by some escalating complications and a final resolution. You may describe other characters you wish to be in the story.  By reading your story synopsis we should get a sense of what it would be like to play the game as the character.  What kind of game is it? What is the tone? Who is the hero? What are his goals? What obstacles must he overcome? How is it resolved? Add any drawings you wish to explain or augment the concept of your game.

(4) Storyboard sequence: Keep it brief -- 6 panels is sufficient. Pick any section of the story you like and show the action graphically in clear, greyscale boards. Use text to further describe the action.  This should center around the action that you'll be animating in the weeks ahead: the walk/run/jump cycles.

Rubric:

Exemplary - Highly polished concept pack showing a unified style and an inventive premise. Designs for  character and environment show deep exploration of design challenges presented by the original story.

Excellent - Detailed, visually interesting and well-organized presentation describing a clear and consistent design style well-suited to a creative premise.

Acceptable - Simple collection of required sketches showing key design features and a solid premise.

Not Acceptable - Sparsely detailed and/or incomplete collection with an unclear concept.

Click here to download the rubric for this assignment

WEEK 1: Animation Direction 1

Welcome to Animation Direction 1!

Please have a look at the outline for the course and familiarize yourself with the academic policies.

Concept art from Machinarium

Animation Direction gives you a chance to create a gameplay sequence straight from your own imagination. From concepts and storyboarding to character design and animation you'll  try out many of the roles in a professional game pipeline. 


We'll be doing a lot of drawing in this course so always bring sketchpads and pencils.  Later on we'll be shooting some video reference to guide the animation process. 

Machinarium final artwork